Two Beating Hearts
by colour-of-forgetmenots
Summary: Seamus Finnigan is due to start his seventh year at Hogwarts, though this time things will not be the same. Hermione Granger is off searching for horcruxes with Harry and Ron. Dark times have the ability to bring them together or tear them apart. Rated T for violence and possible swearing. Set in the time period of Deathly Hallows, with some events changed to different dates.
1. Chapter 1

Fandom:_ Harry Potter_

Pairing: _Seamus and Hermione_

Time Period: _Deathly Hallows_

Written by** colour-of-forgetmenots**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Characters and canon settings all belong to J.K. Rowling.I make no money out of this, as this is simply fan-made.**

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**Two Lions**

**Chapter One**

"It's a bit warm in here, isn't it?" she asked fanning herself with her hand, "Viktor's just gone to get us some drinks."

The boy turned to her and gave her a withering look, "Viktor?" he said, "Hasn't he asked you to call him Vicky, yet

She looked at him in surprise, "What's up with you?"

"Haven't you figured it out yet?" he said

She glared at him, before replying, "No. What on Earth are you t-"

"He's using you." The boy snapped

His words were said with such venom, that they really stung her.

"Using me? What's _that _supposed to mean?"

It was the Yule Ball of 1994, at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and Ronald Weasley could not contain his jealousy that Hermione Granger had gone to the ball with Viktor Krum.

"I mean that exactly. And besides, he's Durmstrang; you're fraternizing with the _enemy_!"

"_The enemy?_ That's ridiculous, Ronald! The whole competition is about making _friends!_"

"Oh well, I think he's got a bit more than friendship on _his_ mind." Ron snorted

At this, Hermione did not want to be around an aggravated Ron, so she turned on her heel, and started making her way to the exit of the Great Hall. Though Ron, in a mood for a fight, followed Hermione

"Hey," Ron said angrily, "hey, I'm not done here."

"Well _I _am." Hermione said, walking so fast that her curly brown hair had begun to undo itself from her elegant knot, letting strands fall everywhere.

Ron was competing against her fast pace, "What do you see in him anyway?"

"Who said I do?" Hermione snapped

"Well it looks like you fancy him."

"Should I, _Ronald?_" Hermione growled

"No," Ron said

Hermione tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, and sped up, Ron following.

"Besides, he's _much _too old," Ron said

"What," Hermione exclaimed, _"what!_ That's what you think!"

"Yeah that's what I think."

Hermione stopped in her tracks, feeling the tears build up in her eyes; she vigorously tried to blink them away. She whipped her head over to Ron, shooting him a second quick glare before speaking, "Well you _must _know the answer to this question then, _don't you_?"

"Go on," Ron spat

"Next time there's a ball," Hermione said, her voice uneven from her emotions, _"ask me _before _somebody else_ does and _not _as last resort!"

"Fine" growled Ron

Hermione spun around now, away from Ron, and was met by a boy with round glasses, raven hair, bright green eyes and a lightening scar on his forehead, looking at her slightly confused by the fact that she was near tears. The boy caught a sight of Ron, behind Hermione's shoulder, casting Rom a quick glare, before turning his attention back to Hermione. He opened his mouth to say something which was important at the time, but she silenced him.

"Harry! _Where _have _you _been?"

Harry Potter, looked slightly taken aback by her outburst, after all what had he done? He opened his mouth, again to answer her, but just like before, Hermione cut him off,

"It doesn't matter. Off to bed, _both _of you."

Harry rolled his eyes, but left without saying anything. He walked past Hermione, who he could have sworn was about to start crying, (though he was not sure why) and made his way towards Ron, who was practically waiting for him halfway up the stone steps that lead they to the moving staircase.

Ron, who was obviously in a bad mood, said to Harry, though loudly enough so that Hermione could hear, "They get worse, as they get older."

A tear slipped from her right eye, as she whipped around to yell at the freckled redhead, "Ron! You spoil _everything_!"

Ron snorted without a comment, and, followed closely behind by Harry, disappeared from view.

At that point, Hermione felt another tear roll down her cheek. From there on, it quickly escalated: what had been a single tear grew into sobs that racked her body. She sat down on the cold, hard steps and let herself cry. She watched as her tears fell onto the periwinkle material, and wondered why Ron had to be that way.

She could hear The Weird Sisters performing their song "Do The Hippogriff"; she could hear the laughter and could practically sense the warm and welcoming mood, although at the moment, she was not feeling the happiness inside her that most of her fellow peers were.

No one had seemed to notice her crying on the steps.

No one, except for one person

He was dancing in the center of the dance floor, sipping his pumpkin juice from his goblet here and there, laughing, singing along, having a wonderful time. Everything had gone smoothly, until he noticed her crying.

Never once, in his three years of knowing her, had he seen her cry, so he figured that what happened must have been serious. His smile faltered slowly, as his blue eyes fell on the scene.

"Mate, what're you looking at?" asked his tall, dark-skinned friend named Dean Thomas

Neville Longbottom, his other friend, who had blonde hair, a round face and was a bit on the shorter side, turned to Dean, "What do you mean?"

His third friend, a girl who was a year younger than him (but had come to the Yule Ball, only because she had been asked by Ernie Macmillan) and had waist length dirty blonde hair, silver eyes and pale skin, turned to the three boys and said in her dreamy voice, "Why, Neville, Dean, haven't you noticed that he's looking at a girl?"

"What girl?" Dean asked

"Yeah," Neville said, "who is she?"

"I'm not quite sure..." said Luna," she appears to be crying. If I were you, I would talk to her. That might make her feel better..."

Dean's eyebrows knotted together, "Luna, what do you mean? Who's crying?"

Luna Lovegood smiled at Dean, "There's Parvati ... she looks like she'd like to dance with you."

Dean blushed, and was about to protest, when Luna continued, "You really should Dean. Harry left, so I think she might be rather bored..."

Dean blushed a bit more, but put on a brave face as he turned towards Parvati Patil and gave her a smile. Parvati blushed immensely, and beckoned for the dark-skinned wizard to join her.

As Dean went her way, Neville called out after him, "G-Good luck, Dean!"

"Thanks," said Dean with a grin

"Oh," Luna suddenly exclaimed, causing Neville to jump, spilling his pumpkin juice all over his shoes,"Neville, I _love _this song!"

He strained his ears, for a second, to listen to the song Luna had just told Neville about – The Weird Sisters had started to play their song, "This Is the Night"

"_When all is dark and there's no light, lost in the deepest star of night. I see yooou_," sang Luna,"oh Neville, I love this! This song makes me feel positively surprised in more ways than one! Let's dance!"

"B-But what about Ernie?" asked Neville, as Luna skipped around him.

His eyes were still on Hermione, and he decided to take Luna's advice and talk to her. After all, how bad could it go? As he bid his goodbyes to Luna and Neville, he heard Neville agree to dance with Luna, seeing as Ernie Macmillan, had left her for Susan Bones. Luna skipped farther into the crowd followed closely behind by Neville.

As he made his way, the music grew slightly softer. When he was near her, he cleared his throat to let her know he was there.

"Hello Hermione," he said, managing a smile

Hermione looked up at him, her face was a tear-stained mask, her eyes were rather red and her hair was back to its normal unruly self. A silence fell upon them, and for those few seconds, Hermione Granger actually looked a bit lost.

When she found her voice, it came out a bit hoarse.

"Hello Seamus"

Truth be told, she had not expected to see him, or have anyone notice her to begin with. People had only truly paid attention to her this evening when she had entered the Great Hall with Viktor, otherwise, her peers only gave her attention if she was deciding whether or not to help them with their homework or if she had answered a particularly difficult question in class. Of course, this did not include Harry and Ron who paid her attention – this included everyone else. And because she was paid so little attention by everyone except Ron and Harry, she was quite shocked to see Seamus Finnigan standing before her.

He sat down next to her, and when she realized the space between them was not very large, she suddenly found herself to be rather self-conscious. She could practically sense that she looked like a mess; her eyes were probably red, her hair must gone back to its rather wild self, she was sure her mascara was smudged and that her dress may have not looked its best, as she had been sitting on the stone steps for a long time.

Seamus could sense the tension between them. They had not really talked outside of classes, but he still considered her some sort of friend at least.

"Don' worry," he said trying to make her feel better, after all, that was what he came there for, "yeh look fine."

Hermione laughed and turned to him, "Seamus, I look worse than a banshee on Halloween."

"Worse than a banshee, eh?" he said with a grin on his face, "Well, if yeh was a banshee, I'd be scared shit less."

Hermione remember that Seamus's boggart had been a banshee, and laughed, feeling better.

"Listen'" Seamus said turning to her, "do yeh want to - and don' worry, we'll still stay friends – dance with me?"

Hermione looked at him; her warm brown eyes met his piercing blue ones, and felt herself blush. Seamus himself seemed to have gone slightly pink, but maybe it was just the lighting. Her eyes examined him, taking in all his aspects: the way his hair had begun to darken since the end of last year and was a little lighter than her own mousy brown, the color of his eyes, the pale freckles that dotted across his nose and the way he smiled... it made her feel nice, it made her feel warm on the inside.

Then she remembered – the two of them shared the same bond that she shared with Harry and Ron. In other words, they were simply friends.

"Hermione," Seamus asked, pulling Hermione out of her reverie, "do yeh?"

"Do I want to what?" Hermione asked

"Dance with me."

She thought it over, and agreed.

"Yes," Hermione said with a small smile, "I'd love too."

Seamus smiled, and grew more pink (by then, Hermione figured that it was not the lighting, and that had been blushing), as the two of them stood up and walked towards the crowd.

By now, it was near midnight, the time the Yule Ball ended, and The Weird Sisters were playing their final song, "Magic Works".

Seamus and Hermione found a spot, and drew close to each other. Hermione touched her hair with her hand, and realized that she still looked awful from crying, but Seamus whispered quietly, "Who's lookin' at you, 'Mione. It's just yeh and me."

She blushed, but listened; who really was paying attention to them? They were just another fourth year couple in the crowd; they were just Seamus and Hermione.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, and Seamus wrapped his around her waist. Hermione took in his smell, the stubble smell of cologne and possibly books. Books? Yes, books. It made her calm, yet she still felt the butterflies fluttering inside her. Her hair smelt of vanilla, at least to him it did, and Seamus soon realised that he rather liked that smell.

"Thank you," Hermione whispered into his shoulder, as the chorus of the slow song was playing. Her voice made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, and a shock run through him

"Thankin' me... for what?"

"For everything, Seamus" said Hermione

His surroundings suddenly grew murky, the white color of ceiling mixed with the pink of Pansy Parkinson's dress. The blue of Hermione's dress merged with the orange from Padma and Parvati's gowns. The music grew softer until he could no longer hear it, and the smell of vanilla vanished, and was replaced by an almost stuffy smell. The next thing he knew, Seamus felt a hand shacking his left shoulder and heard Dean's voice, "Seamus! Seamus, mate, wake up! C'mon!"

Next he heard Neville voice, "Hurry up, Dean! We're almost there! They're coming!"

Who were "they", and why were Dean and Neville's voices deeper? What was happening?

"I believe the Nargles are behind it," he heard Luna say, her voice sounded the same as always, dreamy and carefree.

Then his eyes shot open, Hermione's last words echoed in his head, and he realized where he was and what had happened.

It was no longer the Yule Ball of 1994. If anything, it was very far from that time. Dean, Neville, Luna and Seamus were riding on the Hogwarts Express, but this year, things were different; there was no more laughter, no more sweets being sold from the trolley, no more chatter, no more happiness. It was the year of 1996, in a few months it would be 1997. Albus Dumbledore had been killed last year, the murderer was still unknown, and what he had been happening at the Yule Ball with him and Hermione was a memory, he had been reliving a memory in his dreams, while falling asleep in the Hogwarts Express.

"Seamus," Dean snapped,"pull out your ticket, they're coming!"

"They" were Alecto and Amycus Carrow, who had recently been placed on the train to "improve" its travel time to Hogwarts to their liking.

"Tickets!" roared Amycus, storming down the narrow hallway

"Where's your ticket?" hissed Dean

"Let me get it," replied Seamus. He was tempted to pull out his wand and simply Accio the ticket in his hands from his satchel, but then remembered Rule Number 24 which had recently been passed in the Hogwarts - 'No Magic Is To Be Used On The Train, In The School, At Hogsmeade Or In Dormitories Unless Told To Be Done".

Instead, he stood up and started to search through his belongings, with a great speed, for his ticket.

The compartment door burst open, and Amycus Carrow stepped in.

"Tickets, Gryffindors?" He growled. It came out as more of a command then a question.

Seamus cursed in his head, saying things like how Amycus showed up _too bloody fast_ and how the idea of getting their tickets punched was _stupid_, since it had _never_ been done before.

"_Boy_," growled Amycus, turning to Seamus, "I said, show me your ticket. Your little friends over here, have _already_ done so, so why is a little _shit _like you taking so long?"

Indeed while Seamus had been searching for his ticket, Dean, Neville and Luna had presented their tickets.

Seamus stopped himself from saying something offensive, as he finally found his Hogwarts Express ticket and handed it to the Death Eater.

"Irish, eh?" drawled Amycus as he inspected the ticket, "says right here on the back."

There was a pause as the man before them rummaged through his black cloak, and pulled out a shiny golden ticket punch, and punched a neat hole on the right-side of Seamus's ticket.

"Your _mum_'s a _witch_," Amycus said, "says here she is and ... says here you're a Half-Blood ... which _must_ makes your dad a_ Muggle_."

Still Seamus said nothing, though in his head, he had already hexed Amycus all the way back to London.

"Filthy," Amycus mumbled, as he shoved the ticket back into Seamus's hand and closed their compartment door.

Seamus sat back down in his seat, his face flushed with anger

"Ignore him, Seamus" came Luna's dreamy voice

"Yeah mate," said Neville, "I don't like the idea that all our personal information's on the back, but since it's what the Ministry wants, it's what the Ministry gets."

"Boggin, he is" Seamus growled

Neville looked confused at the word 'boggin', so Dean clarified it for the blonde boy, "Irish slang. Means 'filthy' or 'repulsive', Neville"

Neville nodded in understanding.

The Hogwarts Express rode on, across the country and through the chilly weather. It was heading to a castle, high up in Scotland, a once beautiful place. Hogwarts.


	2. Chapter 2

Fandom: _Harry Potter_

Pairing:_ Seamus and Hermione_

Time Period:_ Deathly Hallows_

Written by** colour-of-forgetmenots**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Characters and canon settings all belong to J.K. Rowling. I made no money out of this, as this is simply fan-made**

**Author's Note: This chapter was heavily inspired by angroradebs's Harry Potter fanfic "All Fall Down". Also, special thanks to sbolzzz for review-ing and following me and also to maryn90 who favorited my story.**

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Surprise

**CHAPTER TWO**

The last rays of sunlight streamed in through the windows of the room he was closest too. They rays reflected on his glasses, and made him feel slightly warm where they touched him. The sunlight had managed to pierce through London's usual grey skies, and shed some natural light in the house for once. The slight dripping noise of leftover rainwater falling from the gutter and onto the windowsill was all he heard for a while.

His green eyes scanned the crumpled and soaking piece of paper in his hands. He ran his hands through his messy black hair, as he read the Daily Prophet article for the third time. He could not believe what was in the paper; he could not believe what he was reading. The news was about Hogwarts, and it was not good news.

The news was more specifically about who would be this year's new Headmaster at the school. Dumbledore had died, so of course it was not him. Professor McGonagall was not the Headmistress as she had kept her job as Transfiguration Teacher. The position of Headmaster (or Headmistress) was not taken by any of the school staff.

Well, with the exception of one person. Out of all the people who could have been picked to be the school's Headmaster, it had to be him. The man that killed Dumbledore – Severus Snape

Snape would be the Headmaster, while Alecto and Amycus Carrow would be taking over the position of Defence against the Dark Arts teacher (or in this case, 'teachers'). The Carrows, before teaching, would be responsible for collecting the Hogwarts Express tickets.

The tickets were used in the past, simply to show that you were heading onto the train. They would only signify that you were accepted into Hogwarts, and that was that. Starting this year, each ticket would be an important part of a student's trip to Hogwarts. Each ticket would be custom made, and on the back, there would all sorts of personal information on the student; blood type, information on a student's parents and their full name, were some examples of what would be included. When collected, the tickets would be punched with a ticket punch and returned to the student.

Another difference that year, and to quote the article, was: "Rule Number 24: No Magic Is To Be Used On The Train, In The School, At Hogsmeade Or In Dormitories Unless Told To Be Done."

More unfortunate news came as well in that article, to his great dismay – Umbridge was running a Muggle-Born Registration Commission. One of his best friend's was a risk, and he could not afford to lose her. She meant too much to him ... and besides, without her, he and Ron would be completely lost.

"He" was Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived. Harry was currently in hiding. Searching for horcruxes, but also in hiding

It had all begun the night of Bill and Fleur's wedding, when the Death Eaters attacked, and Harry, Ron and Hermione were forced to Disapparate to safety. They Apparated at Tottenham Court Road and after being found by two Death Eaters (Dolohov and Thorfinn Rowle) they had been forced to Apparated again. This time, to Grimmauld Place - it was a safe-place. Mr. Weasley's patronus came later, telling them to not contact them but to stay safe.

He sighed, and slumped down to the floor. Harry leaned his head against the wall, and closed his eyes. He kept hearing, the late, Mad-Eye Moody's voice in his head, "Constant vigilance!"

He let himself be submerged into the eerie silence that was always at Grimmauld Place. He closed his eyes, listening to the sound of the floorboards as they creaked, and then feeling the hand tap him on the shoulder.

"Harry," Ron said softly, "Harry mate, wake up. 'Mione made dinner."

Harry slowly opened his eyes, and stood up, the Daily Prophet lay folded up on the floor. His scar was throbbing, but he did not want it to bother his friends

"You alright, mate?" Ron asked, a look of concern on his face

"Yeah," Harry said, forcing a smile, "just tiered."

"Right, well, after dinner you should get some rest," said Ron, patting Harry on the back

"Yeah, yeah I will" Harry replied, running a hand through his raven hair and straightening his round glasses.

Downstairs, the smell of Hermione's fresh mushroom soup, wafted upstairs, making both boys hungry.

"Hey Ron," Harry said, making an attempt to lightening the mood, and to distract himself from the pain in his forehead, "I'll race you downstairs."

Ron freckled face, broke into a grin, "And I'll win!"

"Love to see you try." Harry replied, smirking, as both boys raced downstairs.

The stairs creaked and groaned, the heavy sound of boots running downstairs followed, and they nearly made Hermione jump. She had gotten used the silence in the house, and the sudden noise surprised her,

"Boys" Hermione exclaimed as they both bolted downstairs, "be more careful! You almost made me spill our dinner!"

"Couldn't have that, now could we?" Ron said

"Yes, it could have burnt me-"

"I mean, we would have no food them."

Hermione looked taken aback, and seemed although she was ready to scold Ron, but Ron's face broke into a wide grin, "Only joking, 'Mione!"

Harry and Ron exchanged glances and burst out laughing, Hermione relaxed and joined them. She regained her composure first, and lay down the pot of soup on the table.

"Pass me your plates," she said, as she took out a ladle from a drawer, and began to serve the soup.

In the end, Ron ate three bowls, while Hermione had two, and Harry barely managed one. His scar was throbbing more, and it was getting harder to hide.

"Harry," Hermione asked as she began putting the food away, "Harry, are you alright?"

"Just put the stuff away with magic" he said, not answering her question

Hermione nodded, still not using magic to put the leftover soup away and wash the dishes, she asked again "Harry-"

"I'm -umm- going upstairs," Ron said sheepishly. He could tell Hermione needed to talk to Harry alone, and he being there would not help, "gotta go check on Kreacher. Don't trust that ugly bastard."

"Ron," Hermione called out after Ron, as he made his way upstairs, "Kreacher is a _house-elf_. _Not_ an ugly bastard."

"Right," They heard Ron say as the creaking of the steps, eventually stopped and they heard the door to Ron's room close.

Harry sighed, as Hermione turned to him, "Listen Harry ... is it your scar?"

"Does it matter?"

"Of course, it matters Harry," Hermione said, "It could mean, that _He's_ trying to get in."

"How do you know, Hermione?" Harry asked

The amount of dishes in the sink were starting to bother him, so he took out his wand, and before Hermione could offer to put them away the Muggle way, with swish of his wand, they were in their rightful place.

"Harry," Hermione said, "you can tell me when it hurts next time. I'll be there for you."

"Where would I be without you, Hermione?" Harry sighed, running a hand through his hair

A smile crept on Hermione face, "Long-ago expelled from Hogwarts."

Harry laughed, as he slipped his hand in the pocket of his sweater to pull out the Marauder's Map, but was left with only an empty space in his pocket. No map.

"Do you wish we kept the map?" Harry asked

"No, I don't think we would need it," Hermione said, "because if we somehow got caught, and it ended up in the wrong hands... things would be bad at Hogwarts."

"Not bad, but worse" Harry said

Hermione frowned at him in confusion

"Have you seen the Prophet?" he asked

"No, can you bring it to me?"

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The Gryffindor boy's dormitory, was very quiet and dark that night. There were two empty beds, and only three full ones. The three full beds were Neville's, Dean's and Seamus's.

"Dean," hissed Seamus, "Dean, are yeh awake?"

"I am now, came a groan from the bed to his right."

"Same here," said Neville from across the room

"What's so important to wake us up at...?"

"Five in the morning, Neville" Dean finished

"Somethin' doesn't feel right... I feel like somethin' bad is gonna happen." Seamus replied

"Maybe you had too much pumpkin juice," suggested Neville, "and you have to... you know..."

"I didn't have too much pumpkin juice. I wasn't thirsty," said Seamus

A silence fell upon the three boys, until Seamus tore off his sheets and snatched his wand off his bed stand

"What are you-"Neville began

"Lumos"

"Seamus!" Neville hissed

"Shhh!" The Irish boy growled. Seamus used the silvery light coming from the tip of is wand, to pull out his school trunk from under his bed and open it.

"Accio Marauder's Map," he said a bit more quietly. The silvery light vanished, and there was a moment of objects hitting other objects inside his trunk, but then he felt something lightly hit his chest.

"You found it?" came Neville's voice

"I think I found it..." Seamus murmured. He crawled on his hands and knees, until his fingers felt paper. "Lumos"

The silvery light appeared from his wand, and he picked up the Marauder's Map from the floor. He brought it over to his bed and tapped it with his wand.

"I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good." Seamus said.

The opened a bit slower for him than it did for Neville or Dean, because of his accent.

_'Old codgers who made this, didn't make the thing fluent in Irish' _Seamus thought

Neville and Dean pulled off their covers, and went over to sit with Seamus.

"There's us," Dean said pointing to the drawing of the Gryffindor Tower, where there were three labels – Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas and Neville Longbottom.

"Lemme see," said Dean, grabbing for the map, "after all, Harry gave it to me."

"Gave yeh the best gift out of all three," yawned Seamus

"What you got was... good" Said Dean, running a hand through his short hair

"I got meself a coin." Seamus said

"Well it's one of the D.A. coins. With it, you can contact anyone who's got one," Neville said, "that can be pretty useful."

"I guess... but it's nothin' like what you got. Your gift's got thought."

"A picture of my parents, that's what I got," Neville said, "but yours is important too. I mean, it shows to everyone you were part of something important."

Before Seamus could say anything, Dean cut him off

"Who's that?"

His finger was pointed a label saying names Seamus thought he would never see at Hogwarts. Names, that were not supposed to be able to get through the Hogwarts protective barrier – but if they did get in, then the barrier was broken, and Hogwarts was no longer safe.

The labels made their way across the map with great speed. They were the following:

Bellatrix Lestrange, Rodolphus Lestrange. Walden Mcnair.

"Death Eaters," whispered Seamus

"Snape must've let them in!" exclaimed Dean

"What do we do?"Neville said

"Look!" said Seamus, "it's-"

The door to the boy's dormitory burst open, and in rushed Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown, still in their pyjamas. Just as they shut the door behind them, it was opened once more, and in stumbled Luna Lovegood, who unlike the other two girls, was fully dressed.

Pavarti was out of breath, as Dean laid the map down, to go over and hug her.

"Pavarti!" he exclaimed as the poor girl clung to his shoulders, "Are you alright?"

"We- we heard noises outside," Pavarti said through tears," and-and G-Ginny went to see what it was. We saw her f-from t-the window and- and-"

"They killed her," Lavender shuddered, "just like that. Maybe they found out she was connected to Harry, we don't know."

Seamus's eyes traveled to Luna who looked rather terrified. Her eyes were large and she was missing her left radish earring.

"Seamus!" she cried out, as she suddenly noticed him. Luna ran over, and hugged him very tightly, nearly knocking him off the bed. She eventually pulled away, and said with a small smile, "I needed a hug."

"How'd yeh get here?" he asked Luna

"Guessed the password, it's not that hard."

"Change" Pavarti suddenly ordered. She had stepped away from Dean, and was viciously wiping away at the tears on her face

"Change? In front of yeh? Yeh can't be serious." Seamus said

"Oh come now, "Lavender said, "Just do it! The Death Eaters could get in at any minute, and if we need to escape-"

"How would we escape?" Asked Neville

As Lavender was about to reply, the door was once more opened and in stepped Colin Creevey. He carried several things in his hands that threatened to fall to the floor at any minute

"Try looking the door next time guys," The younger boy said, "I could have been a Death Eater."

"Good idea," said Luna as she pulled out her wand, "Colloportus!"

The door closed with a bang, and Colin lay down objects he had been carrying, on Ron's old bed.

"Brooms?" said Dean

"We're using them to escape;" said Colin, as he rubbed his eyes "as you can see, Hogwarts isn't safe anymore. Now, if I were you, I would change into something warmer than pyjamas – it's pretty cold out there."

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**Please read and review! Hope you guys liked this chapter.**


	3. Chapter 3

_Fandom:_ **Harry Potter**

_Pairing:_ **Seamus and Hermione**

_Time Period:_ **Deathly Hallows**

Written by:** colour-of-forgetmenots**

**Disclaimer: All characters and canon settings belong to J. K. Rowling. I make no money out of this, as this is all simply fan-made.**

**Author's Note: Special thanks to MirandNack for beta reading my story - you're wonderful** :)

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Darkness

**CHAPTER THREE**

The three seventh year Gryffindor boys scrambled to get dressed. This included several layers of warm clothing; trousers, hats, wool socks, and for Seamus, his school uniform.

He was left with his school uniform because his cousin, Fergus, had pulled some sort of cruel joke and shrunken his clothing, nothing seemed to fit. His trousers were too tight and he could not do them up, his socks would not go on his feet, and the long sleeves of his shirts and sweaters reached his elbows, instead of his wrists.

"Boggin," Seamus growled under his breath as he struggled to pull off his shirt, "I'll kill Fergus when I get me hands on him!"

"Oh shut it, Seamus," Dean said as he put his hat on, "put your school robes on, and I'll give you what I have left."

Seamus did as he was told, and Dean gave him his extra gloves and boots, which thankfully fit him.

When everyone was dressed (this included Lavender and Parvati, who had cast some spell on their pajamas to change them into normal clothes), Colin handed out a couple of bromos.

"Two per broom," Colin said, "those of you who can't fly, well, go with someone who can."

Parvati paired up with Lavender, while Dean pulled out his wand and performed spell.

"Accio Marauder's Map," Dean said.

"What's that?" Lavender asked, pointing to the Marauder's Map in Dean's hands.

"Not important for yeh," Seamus snapped.

Lavender shot him a glare, but did not say anything.

"Here, Neville," Dean said, handing Neville the map, "I don't need it. Be safe, mate."

Seamus turned to them in confusion, "What? What do yeh mean?"

"I'm not going, Seamus," Neville said, "some of us need to stay here and fight."

"Well, I'm not goin' without yeh," Seamus said flatly.

"Stop being so dramatic," snapped Parvati, "Dean's not going either."

Seamus's jaw dropped as he turned to Dean, "What's she talkin' about?"

"Well, I'm not specifically going with you, Seamus. I need to take a different route from here."

"Why's that?"

"I don't know what blood type my dad is. It didn't even say on the Hogwarts Express ticket. It said 'unknown'. I could be muggleborn," Dean explained.

"What's wrong with being muggleborn?" Seamus asked. Hermione was muggleborn, and there was nothing wrong with her.

"The new ministry," Dean replied, "they're searching for muggleborns, so I if I am one, which I could be, I have to go into hiding. It's the only way."

Seamus simply stood where he was, being rather quiet. He was trying to take in all the information he had just been told, and everyone became quiet for a while.

That was until they heard the banging on the door.

"Open up!" roared Amycus Carrow.

"They won't simply open the door, you idiot!" growled Alecto.

And yet, someone tried the knob.

"Told you," said Alecto. Seamus could just picture her ugly face forming into a smirk.

"Go," Neville said, clutching the Marauder's Map in his hands. "Mischief managed."

The map closed in his hands, and Seamus felt Luna tug at his sleeve, "C'mon Seamus," she said softly.

He nodded numbly as Colin cast Bombarda Maxima and the window exploded.

Dean flew out first, and when he disappeared from view (which happened surprisingly quickly) he was followed by Lavender and Parvati.

The only people left to go then were Seamus and Luna.

"Be safe, Colin… Neville," Luna said in her dreamy voice.

Colin gave them a sad smile as the banging noises coming from the other side of the door grew louder, followed by people trying spell after spell to open the door.

"Go," the younger boy hissed, "go! Go now!"

Seamus gripped the broom with both hands as he climbed on. Luna followed him, wrapping her arms around his waist for support. Seamus ran for the window, and the broom shot them up into the dark sky when they reached the ledge.

The freezing air filled his lungs and made him feel cold inside. In the distance, Seamus and Luna heard the livid voice belonging to Bellatrix Lestrange as she cast Alohamora and opened the door to the boy's dormitory.

All he heard were spells and dark curses as Luna buried her head against his shoulder for warmth.

"Look," Luna said, pointing a pale finger to a dark shape ahead, "there's the wall surrounding the school!"

Seamus squinted through the dark, and sure enough, there was the wall. As they flew above the wall, both Luna and Seamus felt their ears pop as they passed through what had once been a protective barrier.

"We're out," Seamus managed.

"Are we safe?" Luna asked.

"I don't know."

They flew on, and Seamus could swear that his hands had started to feel numb from the cold. He was covered in goose bumps regardless of the sweater he had on, and he his toes were rather stiff.

The sun had begun to rise as well, lighting the path that the two friends were using. Seamus took in the landscape as the golden rays of sunlight shone over Scotland. Luna and him were flying above some sort of forest, with hills in the distance, and farther away, mountains.

Just as Seamus considered asking Luna what they should do now, a voice filled the air.

"Avada Kadavra!"

Luna ducked in time, and in the process, grabbed Seamus by the collar of his ruffled uniform. The broom went downwards towards the trees, missing the flash of green light only by a few inches.

"Thanks," he breathed.

"No problem," Luna gasped, as she pulled out her wand from behind her ear and turned to the sound of the voice.

"We're being followed, Seamus... by a figure on a broom," she informed. There was a pause as Luna tried to identify the figure. "It's a Death Eater. I just don't know who."

"Doesn't matter," Seamus said as he cast a quick look at the Death Eater, "try to fight him off."

What he had seen of the Death Eater was that the figure had a masculine build and deep voice. Their face was not seen because of their silvery skull-like mask, and their hair was also unknown appearance-wise, as the Death Eater had pulled their hood all the way up.

"Expelliarmus!" Luna shouted.

"Stupefy!" Seamus roared.

The Death Eater dodged both spells effortlessly, and shot some of his own.

"Bombardo!" ringed the Death Eater's voice.

"Protego!" Seamus shot back.

"Go lower!" Luna shouted over the noise.

Seamus leaned forward, arching the broom, and the two were sent deeper into the trees. The prickly branches of the coniferous trees scratched at Seamus ankles as Luna sent him another command followed by a Stupefy to the Death Eater.

The Death Eater's broom was nearing their own. The broom was made of a darker shade of wood and had a bent and crooked handle, but was rather fast.

"Lower!" came Luna's voice again.

The sun disappeared behind a pack of grey clouds as they dodged the Cruciatis Curse and Avada Kadavra once more. "Any lower, and we'll get ca-"

"Incensio!"

The flames burst from the Death Eater's wand and shot the broom. The orange and red flames clung to the hems of Luna and Seamus's sweaters, slowly, but painfully, burning what they touched.

Seamus swore loudly as he was forced to tear off his sweater, burning his fingers while Luna threw off her sweater and burning scarf. There was no real point in keeping them either way, as the clothing was burned beyond repair.

The broom was burning, though, not really flying at the moment, it seemed to be gliding across the tree branches, barely carrying them. The needles of the coniferous trees, sharp and prickly, cut at their exposed flesh, leaving a throbbing pain on the boy and his companion when they touched the areas where the flames recently been.

"Aguamenti!" he shouted, pulling out his wand and pointing towards the sky.

Jets of crystal clear water shot from his wand, and showered over them, cooling their skin, and extinguishing what fire was left on the broom.

There was a puff of smoke, and then they stopped flying, as the broom had lost its ability to do so. No spell could repair that, as brooms were special in that sense.

Luna's head whipped around before they were sent spiraling downwards, but she saw she could no longer see the Death Eater. They both screamed, and just as they were about to come into contact with the hard soil, Luna remembered a spell – she was slightly disappointed that she had not remembered it before.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" Luna exclaimed, her voice filling the air. She pointed her wand at Seamus and grabbed his arm as she did.

The broom fell to the ground with a heavy 'thump!', while the two Hogwarts students stayed suspended in midair. Seamus had shut his eyes without even knowing it, though when he felt the tug of something on his arm, he opened them. Luna was the thing tugging on his arm. She gave him a lopsided smile, and he returned the gesture.

"Get ready," Luna said.

Seamus nodded and Luna gave her wand a small flick, and both teenagers landed on the ground. Seamus looked at her, and just as he was about to thank her for saving them, they heard a noise.

"Where are you?" the Death Eater's voice came from above. Seamus squinted, and through the branches, he could see the Death Eater was flying his broom to the nearest clearing, possibly now to try to catch them on foot.

"C'mon," Seamus hissed to Luna as he grabbed her wrist, leading them through the forest. He had no clue where they were actually going, what he did know though, was that they had to get away.

"Where are you?" they heard.

Seamus and Luna ran as fast as they could, trying to get as far as they could from the man in the black cloak chasing them.

"Here," hissed Seamus as he and Luna turned right, hopping over rocks and trying to not fall over roots.

"I can see you!" shouted the Death Eater with glee, "Petrificus Totalus!"

The spell missed them, hitting something in front of them.

They heard the Death Eater growl in anger, as he had not hit his targets.

Sweat was dripping from his forehead as he told Luna, "Don't fire at him. Yeh'll waste yeh energy and time. We gotta keep runnin'."

Luna nodded wordlessly, the radish earring left in her right ear dangling as she did so.

Pains formed in their sides from running, they tasted blood in their mouths, they felt the sweat running down their forehead and dirt smudges on their faces, but they kept going. Missing spell after spell, long past the feeling of exhaustion, the only thing that kept them going was the fact that they would not give in.

The landscape had shifted from simply hard soil, to a rugged and edgy hill going downwards. They were finding it harder to run there, tripping and stumbling more often.

The Death Eater had the advantage here though, he was behind them and he could have better aim now that he saw they were struggling. Every time one of the annoying little shits fell, he could easily hex them… then again, that was easier said than done, as his aim had never really been good.

The Death Eater stopped for an instant and shot his wand upwards.

His whispered a spell only the followers of the Dark Lord knew, and silver sparks shot into the grey sky. It was the signal, the signal of the Death Eaters and snatchers, the spell that would tell his fellow supporters that he needed help.

And help would come, because help always came to those who deserved it.

Panting and gasping, they staggered to a halt.

"Come here," Luna managed, as she led Seamus behind a collection of trees, "over here, Seamus."

Seamus hurried her way, and the two dropped to their knees, their faces hidden behind bushes, their bodies behind tree trunks.

Seamus and Luna stuck their heads out from behind their hiding place and looked around. They saw emerald trees.

"D-do yeh see him?" Seamus choked out, gasping for air, his heart racing.

"N-no."

Seamus began to feel uneasy. He would rather see the enemy there and then, than have to worry because he could not see him.

"D-do yeh think he cast a Disillusionment Charm?" Seamus asked.

"I don't know," Luna replied.

A loud crack filled the air, and both heads whipped around to hide behind the trees.

"I-I saw someone," whispered Luna.

Seamus stood up as quietly as he could, and motioned for Luna to do the same. She did, and Seamus began running away from the cluster of trees and bushes, his wand in his pocket. Luna followed him, her wand back behind her ear.

"There they are!" roared a voice. This voice however, was not the voice of the Death Eater who had chased Luna and Seamus on a broom. The new voice sounded angrier and lower than the one before it, as if its owner would mercilessly kill somebody and afterwards feel proud of themselves.

"Levicorpus!"

The voice belonged to the Death Eater with the angry voice, who said the jinx with pleasure.

The spell hit Luna, and she was sent upwards, dangling by her ankles.

Seamus stopped, pulled out his wand from his pocket and was about to perform the counter-curse on her, when Luna let out a shout.

"Seamus, look out!"

Before he could even react, a pair of arms cloaked in coal black material wrapped themselves around his neck, holding him in a headlock. One arm held him in place, while the other reached out and snatched his wand from his grasp.

They then took his wand and pressed the hard piece of wood against his temple.

"Any movement, any at all," the voice belonging to the man holding Seamus growled, "any sound, anything that bothers me – I won't hesitate to kill you, boy."

He sounded dead serious, so Seamus said nothing.

The Death Eater who had chased Seamus and Luna on the broom walked towards them, another Death Eater was behind him silently observing the scene.

"Liberacorpus," said the one closest to Luna.

Luna fell to the floor, and the Death Eater grabbed her by her arm, yanking her to her feet.

"Who are you little shits?" he growled, turning to face Seamus dragging Luna with him.

"Why should we answer to a boggin like yehself?" Seamus snapped.

The man holding him gave him a smack against the head, "Remember what I said, boy," he said in a low voice.

The man holding Luna let her go for an instant, taking her wand with him. Luna was then held in place just like Seamus was by the Death Eater who had previously simply been watching the scene.

The Death Eater, who had just let Luna go, had no sense of personal space. He got very close to Seamus, and grabbed Seamus' tie of his school robes, so that their faces were near one another's.

"I've been chasing you and your little friend here, since you escaped Hogwarts," he growled.


End file.
